Tractor attachment

ABSTRACT

An adjustable attachment for attaching a tractor drawbar lift arm to any desired position along the rail of a lift platform attachment. An exemplary embodiment is disclosed which comprises a table member pivotally attachable to the drawbar lift arms and slidable along a platform rail together with U-shaped bolts to permit slidable engagement or to frictionally lock the table and the rail together at any desired position.

United States Patent McClemon 1 Mar. 14, 1972 [54] TRACTOR ATTACHMENT Primary Examiner-Andrew R. luhasz Assistant Examiner-David R. Melton [72] Inventor: Francis R. McClernon, PO. Box 1601 An mey-Cushman, Darby & Cushman SSS, Springfield, Mo. 63105 221 Filed: Nov. 25, 1970 [57] ABSTMCT An adjustable attachment for attaching a tractor drawbar lift APPL 92,725 arm to any desired position along the rail of a lifi platform attachment. An exemplary embodiment is disclosed which comprises a table member pivotally attachable to the drawbar lift [52] US. Cl ..254/l24 arms and slidable along a platform rail together Wm shaped 1 W866 3/00 bolts to permit slidable engagement or to frictionally lock the I I of 24, 8 table and the together at any desi ed position I 56] References Cited 3 Claims 3 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,735,651 2/1956 McClemon ..254/124 PATENTEDMAR 14 I972 ATTORNEYS TRACTOR ATTACHMENT This invention generally relates to an improved attachment for tractors. In particular, the improvement of this invention is primarily intended for use with a tractor attachment such as that described in my earlier US. Pat. No. 2,735,651 for a platform lift attachment.

With this platform attachment or any other such attachment designed for use with existing tractor drawbar lift arms, serious difficulties are often encountered when the same attachment is used with tractors of differing makes and models. For instance, the length of the drawbar lift arms varies between various makes and models of tractors and thus, if one attachment such as that described in my earlier referenced patent is to be used with all makes and models of tractors, a special provision must be made to compensate for such individual variations in drawbar lift arm lengths between the various makes and models of tractors.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable attachment for pivotally attaching such tractor drawbar lift arms to any desired position along the rail of a tractor attachment such as the lift platform attachment described in my earlier referenced patent. Thus, the drawbar lift arms of a tractor may be attached to the rails of such a platform lift at any desired position corresponding to the length of the drawbar lift arms found on the particular make and model of tractor under use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an adjustable attachment which is easily fixed by frictional locking means to the rails of a tractor attachment at any desired position along such rails.

A more complete understanding of this invention may be obtained by carefully studying the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned side view showing the improvement of this invention in use with a lift platform attachment on a tractor with the improvement also shown in dotted lines at a second position along a range of adjustable positions.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the improvement of this invention, and

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the improvement shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the tractor is generally shown at 10, while a lift platform attachment similar to that shown in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 2,735,651, is generally shown by numeral 12. Briefly, the lift platform attachment 12 includes a pair of rails 14 which are effectively pivoted about axis 16. Thus, when hydraulic lift levers l8 and are caused to pivot by the hydraulic system of tractor l0, drawbar lift bars or arms attached to lever 18 and hidden from view in FIG. 1 by rail 14 are caused to move in an arc. Each end of such drawbar lift bars or arms terminates in a lift pin 22 which is pivotally attached to rail 14 by the improved attachment 24 of this invention thus causing rail 14 and lift platform 12 to move upwardly or downwardly along an arcuate path in response to movements of the hydraulic lift levers l8 and 20 and lift pin 22, which are in turn caused to move by the hydraulic system of the tractor 10. I

If the lift platform attachment 12 were always used with the same make and model of tractor 10, the mechanism 24 for attaching lift pin 22 to rail 14 could be permanently and rigidly attached at a fixed point to the rail 14. However, when the lift platform attachment 12 is used with differing makes and models of tractors, the length of the hydraulic lift bars or arms and consequently the position of lift pin 22 is likewise different and thus the mechanism for attachment 24 must be capable of effecting pivotal attachment between lift pin 22 and rail 14 at differing points along the length of rail 14. As shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 at numeral 26, the attachment mechanism 24 of this invention may be adjustably positioned along the rail 14 to compensate for differences in the position of lift pin 22 corresponding to a particular make and model of tractor 10.

As shown in the top view of FIG. 2, and the cross section of FIG. 3, the attaching mechanism of this invention comprises a platform member 28 and U-shaped bolts 30 and 32 with the closed ends thereof positioned over the top of rail 14 and with the bottom open ends projecting through platform 28 and having nuts 34 and 36, which when tightened, press the rail 14 against the platform 28 to frictionally engage these two members. Of course, when the bolts 34 and 36 are loosened, the platform 28 may be slidably positioned at any point along the length of rail 14, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In addition, the attachment shown in FIG. 2 and 3 includes a vertical fin 38 which is attached to the horizontal table 28 and which is provided with a hole at 40 to permit a pivotal connection of lift pin 22 therethrough. A cotter pin or bolt may be inserted in the end of pin 22 to prevent its slippage from hole 40. Other means to prevent such slippage could also be used as will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

While the vertical fin 38 and horizontal table 28 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as comprising two oppositely positioned and abutting inverted L-shaped structures, it should be noted that other constructions are equally feasible such as a single piece of suitably dimensioned angle iron. Thus, the vertical fin 38 need not be centered underneath the horizontal table 28 as shown in FIG. 3 but can in fact be located on either side of center as well.

Thus, the attachment of this invention permits the user to leave the U-bolts loosened and thereby permit a freely slidable connection between the rail and the tractor lift pin or the attachment can be tightened to frictionally engage the rail and thus fix the tractor lift pin with respect to the rail at any desired distance. It should also be noted that other means of making the attachment slide on the rails may be used instead of U-bolts. That is, a solid piece of tubing may be formed to closely fit the rails with a fin projecting underneath to hold pin 22.

While only one exemplary embodiment has been specifically described in the foregoing specification, it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications of this specific embodiment are possible without changing the salient features of the disclosed invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this specification.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tractor mounted lift having rearwardly extending rails pivotally secured under a rear axle of the tractor and which is caused to pivot by a powered tractor drawbar assembly, the improvement comprising:

first means for making a pivotal connection to said drawbar assembly,

second means for permitting connection between said first means and one of said rearwardly extending rails at substantially and selected distance from said rear axle along the length of said rails thereby permitting said lift to be used with tractors having differently dimensioned drawbar assemblies.

2. An improvement as in claim 1 wherein said first means comprises angularly shaped structures having:

a vertical fin portion with means for pivotal connection with a mating, horizontally extending portion of said drawbar assembly, and

a horizontal table portion for making slidable contact with said one of said rails.

3. An improvement as in claim 2 wherein said second means comprises:

U-shaped bolt means engaged around said one of said rails for permitting sliding engagement in a loosened condition and for effectively clamping together said latter rail and said horizontal table portion in a tightened condition thereby securely connecting said first means to said one of said rails at said selected distance. 

1. In a tractor mounted lift having rearwardly extending rails pivotally secured under a rear axle of the tractor and which is caused to pivot by a powered tractor drawbar assembly, the improvement comprising: first means for making a pivotal connection to said drawbar assembly, second means for permitting connection between said first means and one of said rearwardly extending rails at substantially any selected distance from said rear axle along the length of said rails thereby permitting said lift to be used with tractors having differently dimensioned drawbar assemblies.
 2. An improvement as in claim 1 wherein said first means comprises angularly shaped structures having: a vertical fIn portion with means for pivotal connection with a mating, horizontally extending portion of said drawbar assembly, and a horizontal table portion for making slidable contact with said one of said rails.
 3. An improvement as in claim 2 wherein said second means comprises: U-shaped bolt means engaged around said one of said rails for permitting sliding engagement in a loosened condition and for effectively clamping together said latter rail and said horizontal table portion in a tightened condition thereby securely connecting said first means to said one of said rails at said selected distance. 